


step right up

by laurenswriting



Category: SKAM (France)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Carnival, First Meetings, Fluff, Kid Fic, Lucas has a sister, M/M, Meet-Cute, she's like 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-20 18:15:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18997930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurenswriting/pseuds/laurenswriting
Summary: “The MJC is hosting a fundraising carnival at the park today and Idriss was supposed to run a booth but he bailed and I —”“When do you need me to be there?”(or: eliott helps out sofiane at the mjc carnival. lucas shows up with his little sister.)





	step right up

**Author's Note:**

> hi so i know it's been a minute since the last "you just float through" update (chap 3 is about 1/3 written) but!!! i spent my first weekend post-grad working at my town's festival and i just couldn't get this idea out of my head
> 
> un-beta'd, all mistakes are mine 
> 
> hope y'all enjoy ♥

Eliott is sitting at his desk, pen in hand, staring down at a blank sheet of paper. He knows what he wants to draw, he does, but something is keeping the ink from flowing. He purses his lips, sighing, and leans all the way back in his chair.

His phone buzzes beside him, a welcome distraction. The screen lights up with a call from his best friend.

“Hey, Sofiane,” he says, dropping his pen onto the table with a clunk.

“Are you free right now?” No greeting, no transition. Eliott furrows his brow.

“Why?”

“The MJC is hosting a fundraising carnival at the park today and Idriss was _supposed_ to run a booth but he bailed and I —”

“When do you need me to be there?”

Eliott hears Sofiane’s short gasp through the phone. “Are you serious, man?”

“Yeah, why not?” He glances around his room, eyes skimming over the still-blank paper on his desk. “Don’t really have much else to do.”

“You’re the best, Eliott, seriously,” Sofiane rushes, his words blurring together through the phone’s crackly speaker.

“Yeah, I know.”

* * *

 

An hour later, Eliott finds himself standing at the _Knock It Down!_ booth, frantically setting up the supplies before the children arrive. The object of the game is simple: knock down as many metal bottles as possible in three throws of a bean bag.

“The kids get a prize no matter what,” Sofiane says, pulling a bundle of small stuffed animals out of a box. “So no one should leave this booth crying.” His tone is sharp, sharper than normal, and Eliott makes a note to ensure that none of his customers cry today. Sofiane sounds stressed enough as it is, no need to add to it.

“Sounds good, man,” Eliott replies carefully, setting the last of the bottles up on the shelf and turning around to help Sofiane with the prizes. He eases the stuffed animals out of the other boy’s hands, shooing him away from the booth. “Now go finish up with the rest of the carnival. I’ve got this.”

Sofiane gives him a grateful smile, muttering a quick _thank you_ before stepping out of the booth. “I’ll be back in a few hours!”

Eliott watches Sofiane go, shaking his head lightly as he turns back to the task at hand. How hard could it be?

 

* * *

 

Very hard, it turns out. His booth is surprisingly one of the more popular ones, mostly due to the fact that everyone who plays gets a prize. There’s an almost constant stream of kids wanting to play the game (and god, are they loud; Eliott can feel a headache coming on). He gives out beaded necklace after beaded necklace, a cheap consolation prize for the kids who don't knock down a full pyramid. More often than not, those kids are back in minutes, pockets full of determination and euro coins from their parents. Three hours pass and Eliott barely gets a break, only having just enough time to take a few sips from his water bottle and eat an energy bar between customers. It’s great for the MJC, certainly, but damn, Eliott’s tired.

“Lulu, I wanna do that one!”

A high-pitched voice cuts through the buzz of the carnival during a lull at his booth, followed by squeals of delight. Eliott throws the wrapper of his granola bar away with a sigh and turns around to find a little girl stepping up to the booth.

“Hi!” She gives him a wide grin, a few front teeth missing, as she pushes some stray pieces of hair out of her eyes.

“Hello,” he replies, crouching down to face her.

“Hi.” This voice is deeper, softer, and Eliott looks up to find the clearest blue eyes he has ever seen staring back at him. A sharp jawline. Long, fluttering eyelashes. Bitten-red lips.

The boy is beautiful.

“Hi,” Eliott chokes out, straightening up to his full height. His hand curls into a fist where it rests on the table, if only to keep himself from reaching out to toy with the boy’s messy chocolate brown hair.

“How do you play?”

The girl’s clear voice snaps Eliott back to reality, and he reaches over to the bowl of bean bags beside him. _Back to work._

“You throw one of these,” he begins, tossing a bag up in the air, “at the stacks of bottles on the wall, and you knock as many of them down as you can.”

“Do I get a prize?” she asks, green eyes wide. “I want one of those!” The girl points to the bundles of stuffed animals on the wall as Eliott stifles a laugh behind his palm.

“You have to _win_ to get a prize, Amelia,” the boy beside her chuckles.

“Actually,” Eliott counters, leaning forward. “You get a prize just for playing. Not _those_ , but.”

Amelia’s gasp is almost comical, the way her eyes grow impossibly big as she turns to look up at the other boy, jumping up a down a bit. “ _Please_ , Lulu, can I play? Please, please, _please?”_  

 _(Lulu._ It’s a nickname, Eliott knows it’s a nickname, but damn, it’s cute. Fits him well.)

“How much?”

“Three throws for a euro.”

Lulu hands over the coin, never taking his eyes off Eliott.

Eliott gulps, slipping the money into the half apron the MJC staff had given him and holding out three bean bags for Amelia. She takes one of them and glances back up at Lulu, hesitance written across her face.

“Go ahead,” Lulu says softly, nudging her shoulder a bit. “You’ve got this.”

Amelia nods, sharp and determined, screwing her features together before drawing her arm back as far as it can go and throwing the bean bag at the wall. One of the pyramids crashes to the ground, bottles flying through the booth.

The young girl cheers, wrapping her arms around Lulu’s waist in a tight squeeze. He places a kiss on the top of her head, reaching past her to grab one of the remaining bean bags from Eliott, brushing the tips of his fingers along the other boy’s palm.

His touch is gone in a second and Eliott is left reeling.

“See! What did I say?” Lulu exclaims as he passes Amelia the next bean bag. “There’s nothing my little sister can’t do.” She flashes him a quick smile before winding up again and sending another two bottles off the shelf.

Eliott laughs, impressed. This kid’s a force to be reckoned with, huh?

“You get a stuffed animal if you knock that last one down,” he says.

“Really?!” Amelia looks up at Eliott, buzzing with excitement at his words. He slides the final bean bag over to her and she grabs it, clutching it in a fist as she stares down her target.

A deep breath. A raised arm.

The final bottle clatters onto the shelf, the sharp snap of metal on wood echoing through the booth.

Eliott bursts into applause as Lulu and Amelia cheer from the other side of the counter. He lifts his palm up for a high-five, chuckling when Amelia responds by slapping his palms with both hands, one after the other.

Eliott looks up at Lulu to find the boy’s eyes already on him, smile spreading across his lips. There’s something glinting in his deep blue irises, something almost like approval after Eliott's small exchange with Amelia. The corner of his mouth lifts up slightly, gaze searching Lulu’s.

“What’s my prize?”

Amelia once again breaks the two boys out of their stare, prompting Eliott to flinch a bit as he turns back towards the little girl.

“Well, you knocked down two pyramids, so you get to pick one of the smaller stuffed animals.” He points to the shelf on the right side of the booth, stacked high with dozens of toys. “Any idea which one you want?”

Amelia hums, bringing her thumb and forefinger up to her chin in thought.

“What’s that one?” She points to a smaller animal at the edge of the shelf.

“It’s a hedgehog.”

“I want that one, then!” Eliott chuckles, disbelieving, glancing over to Lulu as he runs a hand through his hair, pieces sticking out every which way. _If I had to pick an animal…_

Eliott walks over to the shelf, pulling the hedgehog out and passing it to Amelia.

“What do you say, Amelia?” Lulu prompts, eyes flickering between Eliott and his sister beside him.

“Thank you…” she trails off, furrowing her brow. “Wait, what’s your name?”

He lets out a little laugh. “Eliott.”

“Thank you, Eliott! I’m Amelia!”

“You’re welcome, Amelia.” Eliott brings his gaze up, scanning Lulu’s features. “I’m Eliott.” He says it softer this time, meant for this boy and this boy only.

“Lucas.”

“Nice to meet you, Lucas,” Eliott replies, letting the name sit on his lips.

“You too.”

“That was fun, Lulu!” Amelia exclaims, pulling on the edge of his jacket. “Can we do it again?”

“Maybe later,” Lucas responds, drawing Amelia’s hand into his and starting to walk away, but his eyes stay on Eliott.

“Well, I’ll be here all day,” Eliott offers, hopeful. He looks at the boy’s lips once, twice, before holding his gaze instead.

Something flickers across Lucas’ features and he nods, shoving his free hand into his jacket pocket. “Then we’ll be back.”

Eliott steps away from the counter as Lucas and Amelia walk away hand in hand, moving towards one of the other game booths. He sets the bottles back up, fiddling with the remaining prizes as he waits for a new customer, waits for the two to return.

He’s still smiling.

* * *

 

The rest of the day passes by quickly, with kid after kid stepping up to his booth to play the game. Lucas and Amelia still haven’t come back, and Eliott tries not to be disappointed, tries to think of reasons why they wouldn’t return: Amelia could’ve been tired, they could’ve had something else to do this evening, the list goes on.

It’s nearly closing time when Eliott hears heavy steps coming up to his booth. He spins around from where he was stacking up the prizes.

“Hi.”

It’s the same voice from before, the same voice Eliott had been hoping to hear all afternoon.

“Hey.” He leans up against the counter, resting the heels of his palms along the edge. “No Amelia?”

“She’s over with my friends,” Lucas replies, glancing over to the small tented dance floor at the center of the carnival. Eliott spots Amelia immediately, dancing and twirling in the arms of... _Imane?_

“I see.” He nods, rocking up onto his toes, filing that tidbit of information for later. “Come to try your luck, then?”

Lucas’ eyes flash, flickering over Eliott’s face, chest, arms. “Yeah,” he breathes, and Eliott feels heat spreading across the tops of his cheeks. _Surely he’s not…?_

A euro coin is placed on the counter and Eliott blinks rapidly, shifting back into work mode. He pulls away from Lucas to pocket the money and lay the bean bags out in front of the other boy. Lucas takes them, throwing them at the wall in quick succession.

The three pyramids go down easy, bottles falling for Lucas almost instantly. Eliott can relate.

“So what’s my prize?”

It’s a loaded sentence, and Eliott can feel Lucas’ gaze burning into his. (There’s a lot Eliott could say to Lucas, a lot he _wants_ to say but. The children.)

“Well,” he begins, coughing a bit to clear his throat and his head. “You can take one of the big stuffed animals or two of the small ones.”

Lucas hums as he makes his decision, his expression eerily similar to how Amelia’s was earlier.

“Take your pick” Eliott prompts, gesturing back to the stuffed animals on the wall.

“I’ll take...the raccoon.”

Something inside Eliott’s chest warms, burning bright, and he brings the toy over to Lucas.

The boy hesitates, flipping the animal over in his hands and looking everywhere _but_ at Eliott. _(Well_ , Eliott thinks, _that’s not right.)_

“Anything else?” Eliott pries, hope filtering into his voice. “Another turn?”

“No, just,” Lucas hesitates, glancing down to the raccoon in his arms. “Just your number. Or do I have to knock down a couple more bottles for that?”

Eliott bites his lip so hard he nearly draws blood keeping his smile at bay.

“Well, normally you’d have to clear _at least_ two more pyramids, but,” he trails off, Lucas rolling his eyes in front of him. “I guess I can give it to you now.”

A grin blooms along Lucas’ lips and Eliott holds out his hand for Lucas’ phone. After typing in the number quickly, he presses the cell back into Lucas’ palm, sure to drag his pinky along the creases of the other boy’s knuckles.

“I, uh, I have to take Amelia home now, but I’ll text you after.” Lucas looks almost bashful, his hands stuffed in his pockets, kicking at the ground.

“Can’t wait.”

* * *

 

Later, as he’s packing up the booth, Eliott’s phone vibrates in his pocket. And he hopes. He hopes he hopes he hopes.

A photo of two stuffed animals, a hedgehog and a raccoon, waits for him on his screen.

It’s an unknown number. The sigh that escapes Eliott’s lips is part relieved, part awestruck, part smitten. Already.

_they go pretty well together, huh?_

_yeah, they do_

Eliott hesitates, drawing his bottom lip back between his teeth. _Oh, fuck it._

_a new coffee shop just opened up a couple blocks from my place. it’s no carnival,_

_but the pastries look pretty good. meet me there tomorrow at 11h?_

_can’t wait_

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!!! 
> 
> kudos/comments are v much appreciated ♥ 
> 
> tumblr: [tawmlinsun](https://tawmlinsun.tumblr.com) // [ficpost](https://tawmlinsun.tumblr.com/post/185199539686/step-right-up-the-mjc-is-hosting-a-fundraising)


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